A hydrocarbon exploration model for the Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale, and the Dakota Group in the Wasatch Plateau and Castle Valley of east-central Utah, with emphasis on post-1980 subsurface data (OFR-160)

By: C. N. Tripp

This study incorporates subsurface, surface, structural, and stratigraphic data from the cretaceous Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale, and the Dakota Group into a hydrocarbon exploration model for the Wasatch Plateau and Castle Valley areas. Deposition within a paludal environment limits the hydrocarbon potential of the Dakota Group. Prospective reservoirs lie within northeastward trending channel systems in structurally favorable areas.

Ferron production in the region is most prolific from the highly faulted Clear Creek anticline. Joes Valley, Flat Canyon, and Ferron anticlines are also responsible for significant hydrocarbon production. The future of this area lies in the development of stratigraphic traps. Areas of deltaic sedimentation have been delineated in this study which provide future exploration targets.

Cretaceous sediments were supplied by the Sevier orogenic belt, located west of the study area. The most widely accepted interpretations for the extremely complex structural relationships within the study area involve continental tectonism.

Other Information:
Published: 1989
Pages: 81 p.
Plates: 15 pl.
Scale: 1:250,000
Location: Carbon, Emery, Grand, Sanpete, Sevier, and Utah Counties
Media Type: Paper Publication